Lin remains a game-time decision; will test chest injury tonight

Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin is still recovering from a chest injury. (Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle)

Feeling better but still without a good test of recovery, Rockets guard Jeremy Lin’s availability to play Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder will be determined tonight after his pregame warmups.

Lin still has not gone through a practice or shooting drill since he was knocked out of Wednesday’s game in a collision with Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha.

“I’m just feeling better,” Lin said. “We’ll see at game-time. I’m going to warm up and we’ll see how it goes. I’m definitely hopefully. Feeling a lot better.

“I really only took two, three shots. It’s really not indicative of what it feels like at game speed. It feels a lot better for sure.”

The question, Lin said, will be “if I can play without being restricted. If I can play without having to deal with not being able to do with not being able to do whatever I need do, whether it’s pass, rebound, defend, shoot.”

Lin played every game this season after missing last season’s playoffs with the same injury that Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook suffered on Wednesday.

“Obviously, I know what he’s going through and it sucks,” Lin said. “Hoping for a speedy recovery for him. Just as an athlete, as another basketball player, as a peer, we all feel bad anytime, anybody gets hurt.”

Rockets coach Kevin McHale has not said how he would replace Lin in the Rockets starting lineup. Point guard Patrick Beverley starting Game 2 in a backcourt with Lin, replacing power forward Greg Smith as a starter. Smith missed Saturday’s shootaround with stomach distress and will also be a game-time decision. Carlos Delfino started the Rockets’ win against the Thunder in Toyota Center in February.

“By tonight, it will straighten itself out,” McHale said. “Right now, we’re still in the wait-and-see mode. We’ll see how Jeremy feels.

“We’re not going to change a ton of stuff if Jeremy can’t play. Our defensive assignments change a little bit. We’re not going to say all of a sudden we’re not running our offense. We’ll run the same stuff. Jeremy doesn’t know if he’s going to play. In fairness to him, he wanted to wait and give it a little more time to see how he feels. He feels a little better than yesterday. It still doesn’t feel great. It really, truly will be a game-time decision and we’ll go from there.”